Former FAO Schwarz CEO Joins Cannabis Industry

[dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]E[/dropcap]dward M. Schmults, former CEO of FAO Schwarz and COO of Patagonia, will bring his marketing wizardry to the Calyx Peak Capital executive team, according to a Nov. 1 press release.

Calyx Peak Capital holds seven permits for operations in California, Ohio and Nevada. Calyx Peak Capital grows cannabis with a combined 225,000 square feet of grow space. The company is seeking more permits in Massachusetts. Schmults will join Chief Investment Officer Michael Bang and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Paul Y. Song as part of the company’s executive branch.

“The cannabis market is very intriguing to me, given the market size, growth rates, and the incredible life-changing and life-saving medicinal benefits cannabis has to offer. In addition, there are significant positive social justice benefits to decriminalization as well as other societal benefits, like safer products and substantial tax revenues,” Schmults said in a statement. “I’ve spent my career building and turning around brands with rich histories. I joined Calyx Peak because I believe my experience is an excellent fit to help them build a great brand and team. We’re here to create a rich branded experience through high quality and innovative product and long-lasting relationships with our customers based on reliability and trust.”

Josh Del Rosso, better known as JoshD of JoshD Farms, released a house cannabis brand that is backed by Calyx Peak Capital. FAO Schwarz was founded in 1862 and is one of the longest-running high-end toy stores in the history of the United States. FAO Schwarz finally closed in 2015 after parent company Toys ‘R’ Us also closed, but was quickly acquired and resurrected by another company in 2016. The practices Schmults learned at FAO Schwarz could be a valuable tool in the cannabis industry.

With federal cannabis reform on the horizon, the time was right for Schmults to become involved. “Our goal is to continue to build a great company with strong national brands, with scalable processes and procedures that will prepare us for the eventual legalization or decriminalization at the federal level,” said Schmults.